Muscat on verge of coaching job in Belgium
KEVIN Muscat is on the verge of landing a European gig with Belgian top-tier club Sint-Truiden.
The Belgians want to recruit Muscat to their technical staff and hope to have the former Melbourne Victory coach involved for their next game, on January 19 against Kortrijk.
It’s a huge breakthrough for Muscat, although he can’t officially be a head coach at SintTruiden until he completes his UEFA Pro coaching licence.
Asian Football Confederation coaching badges – ie. coaching courses completed in Australia – are not recognised in Europe.
Hence Muscat, 46, is likely to assume a technical role at Sint-Truiden. He may transition to head coach once he completes his Pro badge, most likely in the European summer.
Muscat will take Perth Glory analyst Luciano Trani with him to Belgium.
The duo is due to depart in coming days. A modest club which has never won a Belgian title, Sint-Truiden last won a trophy in 1998, claiming the Belgium Cup.
Sint-Truiden is currently 11th in the league but have the second top scorer in the competition with Ivory Coast striker Yohan Boli bagging 10 goals.
Muscat interviewed for the Millwall job a few months back and had a series of meeting with clubs in England, Scotland and Europe during a recent month-long trip to Europe.
The former Wolves, Crystal Palace, Glasgow Rangers and Millwall hard man remains well known across Europe after a nine-year career before signing for Victory in 2005.
Muscat has been linked with Western Sydney Wanderers, whose coach Marcus Babbel has been under some pressure this season.
He had also been linked to Rangers in previous years and served as a quasi Socceroos assistant, travelling to the 2017 Confederations Cup with Ange Postecoglou’s staff.
Muscat won two titles as Victory coach after replacing Postecoglou in October 2013 as the latter took the Socceroos coaching job, replacing Holger Osieck.